Posted December 22, 2020
I agree at this point it's a matter of opinion. We (and especially the shareholders) will just have to wait and see.
However, I also need to point out that my perspective as a customer is fundamentally different than that of the company's shareholders.
I am generally not a supporter of any business I happen to be a customer of. I did make an exception for GOG, and convinced more than a few people to give it a chance, so this is perhaps why I'm a bit invested in what they're doing to themselves now: by extension, they are making me feel like an idiot.
However, in general, my interest is just that (1) good games continue to be made, and (2) there is a place to buy them, DRM-free. It would be nice if good games continued to be made by CD Projekt, and I could continue to buy them on GOG. However, good games are ultimately made by great, talented people, not by management making one mistake after another, and investors with more money than sense.
In the good times, shareholders took their profit, and didn't share any of it with me. (Of course. Why would they?) So then, if the company is facing tough times now, why should I be concerned for the shareholders' well-being? If anything, I'm only interested in that the great developers and artists behind The Witcher 3, and the good portions of Cyberpunk 2077 continue to be paid to create, and enjoy their creative freedom. Perhaps under other arrangements they would even be able to do so without having to work 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week, which would actually be a net benefit, at least to them?
Ultimately, my perspective is the customer's perspective. The company has the right to do as they please but they have no right to my (or anybody's) continued custom. Their shareholders are about as important to me as I am to them (i.e. not important at all).
toxicTom: Gain a few thousand new customers, lose a market of many million? Not a very sane business decision. You (alongside many others) posit that there is the dichotomy between (broadly) serving the Chinese market, or serving the Western markets. That the two cannot be reconciled. But it's a specious argument. There are thousands of examples to the contrary. Disney's very own Winnie-the-Pooh is not banned in the West after all.
The predicament that CD Projekt/GOG have found themselves is uniquely of their own making. Businesses should steer clear of political activism. They should not have promoted the game in China, and they should not have banned it outside of China. One misstep cannot be cancelled by another, the mistakes only keep compounding.
It didn't have to be this way. But that it is now, is the problem of the company, and their shareholders, not mine.
toxicTom: I think you overestimate the willingness of couch warriors to actually pull through and spend money. It's possible but then it's also not that much money to spend on principle. Also, the game is supposedly good, and there were apparently many people waiting for it to be released so that they could buy it. Broadly though, I agree: the Devotion controversy alone would mean mostly reputational damage for them. But given all the other Cyberpunk 2077-related problems (and I'm not saying that with satisfaction, some of the game's criticism is exaggerated, just like the hype before its release was), where they're headed is quite uncertain. Separately, there is also the long-term trend of GOG only getting worse and more alienated from the user base. For many people it could be the last straw.
That's the Streisand effect, it worked like this for me too.
If only because of that, how the situation has been developing isn't beneficial for China either. I think in banning the game earlier their motive (if there was one to begin with, other than some regional-level bureaucrat trying to placate the superiors), was mostly to set an example by hurting the developers financially so that nobody else ever tries putting any covert messages in any domestically-marketed game again. That all of this has spilled abroad, bringing to light some inconvenient topics, is hardly what they could have wanted.
That's the problem. They have a history of bad moves, and being even worse at communicating their decisions and motives. They willingly walked into this problem this time. How much longer before they find themselves between a rock and a hard place again? If I were a shareholder, I'd want changes.
However, I also need to point out that my perspective as a customer is fundamentally different than that of the company's shareholders.
I am generally not a supporter of any business I happen to be a customer of. I did make an exception for GOG, and convinced more than a few people to give it a chance, so this is perhaps why I'm a bit invested in what they're doing to themselves now: by extension, they are making me feel like an idiot.
However, in general, my interest is just that (1) good games continue to be made, and (2) there is a place to buy them, DRM-free. It would be nice if good games continued to be made by CD Projekt, and I could continue to buy them on GOG. However, good games are ultimately made by great, talented people, not by management making one mistake after another, and investors with more money than sense.
In the good times, shareholders took their profit, and didn't share any of it with me. (Of course. Why would they?) So then, if the company is facing tough times now, why should I be concerned for the shareholders' well-being? If anything, I'm only interested in that the great developers and artists behind The Witcher 3, and the good portions of Cyberpunk 2077 continue to be paid to create, and enjoy their creative freedom. Perhaps under other arrangements they would even be able to do so without having to work 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week, which would actually be a net benefit, at least to them?
Ultimately, my perspective is the customer's perspective. The company has the right to do as they please but they have no right to my (or anybody's) continued custom. Their shareholders are about as important to me as I am to them (i.e. not important at all).
The predicament that CD Projekt/GOG have found themselves is uniquely of their own making. Businesses should steer clear of political activism. They should not have promoted the game in China, and they should not have banned it outside of China. One misstep cannot be cancelled by another, the mistakes only keep compounding.
It didn't have to be this way. But that it is now, is the problem of the company, and their shareholders, not mine.
That's the Streisand effect, it worked like this for me too.
If only because of that, how the situation has been developing isn't beneficial for China either. I think in banning the game earlier their motive (if there was one to begin with, other than some regional-level bureaucrat trying to placate the superiors), was mostly to set an example by hurting the developers financially so that nobody else ever tries putting any covert messages in any domestically-marketed game again. That all of this has spilled abroad, bringing to light some inconvenient topics, is hardly what they could have wanted.
That's the problem. They have a history of bad moves, and being even worse at communicating their decisions and motives. They willingly walked into this problem this time. How much longer before they find themselves between a rock and a hard place again? If I were a shareholder, I'd want changes.
Post edited December 22, 2020 by Turbo-Beaver
